Fragrance of Familiarity
by wildly-wrathful
Summary: It was her scent that pulled him in.


**Title:** Fragrance of Familiarity  
**Pairing/Character:** LoVe  
**Word Count:** 1344  
**Rating:** PG  
**Summary:** It was her scent that pulled him in.  
**Spoilers/Warnings:** Nothing, just know the show.  
**Disclaimer:** Not mine. Period.

* * *

It was her scent that pulled him in. Not her long blond hair, or her big blue eyes. Not her dazzling smile, or innocent blushes. Well, not just that because a girl like that isn't hard to find in California. But it was the smell of nutmeg and vanilla. Logan probably wouldn't have even noticed if he didn't have to inhale it for days, the fragrance trailing him wherever he went. It was embedded in his favorite jacket, and all because of Lilly.

The fab four had been at the beach a couple of weeks before, goofing off and enjoying being the teenagers that they were. The wind had been especially harsh that night, causing goosebumps to arise on their arms and legs as the gray clouds above contrasted with the inky sky. Out of the four of them, Logan had been the only one smart enough to bring along a jacket, although he pretty much went everywhere with it anyways. Lilly and Duncan had been wearing sweatshirts, so the cold didn't bother them that much. Veronica hadn't been so lucky, covered only in her pink T-shirt and jeans. He hadn't cared, too caught up in Lilly's lips to notice his shivering friend. That was until Lilly demanded he hand over his coat. After much protesting from both Veronica and him, he gave in.

By the end of the night, he had forgotten all about it. Veronica had ended up leaving it in his back seat, where he had later found it the next morning before heading to school. That was the day the obsession started.

At first he couldn't place the smell. He first noticed it in English class, when he had caught a whiff of it. Looking around at the countless girls around him, and subtly smelling the ones closest to him, he was more than confused when he slouched down in his seat, his collar riding up and the addicting scent hit him again. It didn't smell like Lilly, who wore lavender perfume, nothing like the odor that hovered around him.

Still too hungover to care too much, he shrugged it off, laid his head on the cool desktop, and slept through the rest of class.

By lunch his headache was gone, but the scent had still remained. It had started to bother him to the point of distraction, where not even the softness of Lilly's lips or hell, even his meat lovers pizza could hold his attention.

The moment the bell rang Logan was at his locker, stuffing the damn jacket in there. However, getting rid of the jacket was much easier than getting rid of Veronica. They were lab partners, which meant an hour of sitting next to Veronica and her fragrance, grinding his teeth and trying not shove his nose into her silky hair and breathe in.

It seemed as if the moment he had inhaled that smell all he could think about and concentrate on was his best friend's (or what seemed to be his ex these last few days) girlfriend. Every movement she made, he was aware of. Her looking into the microscope, scribbling a note down, taking a sample, fidgeting in her seat. Before he knew it, Logan was gravitating towards Veronica with not a single idea on how to stop. Thankfully the bell had rung right before he had met his destination, and was saved the humiliation of sniffing (_sniffing!_) his friend.

Now, two weeks later, and Logan was certain he was going insane. How could something so futile have such a strong effect on him? And to Veronica of all people? Sure, she was nice, and _everyone's _friend, but she was too naive, too innocent, too _boring. _Logan needed someone like Lilly, passionate, reckless, alive.

But to be honest, he never really cared to get to know Veronica. She was Duncan's girlfriend, Lilly's best friend, and that's all that really mattered. Even if he did suddenly get the urge to know Veronica, he would only taint her, just like Lilly tainted her now. Veronica was too pure, too virtuous, too... Veronica.

Then, of course he'd been making excuses like these since he'd met her. At first, he was jealous. She had a dad and mom who loved her, and a puppy pit bull of her own, and what did Logan have? An abusive father, an alcoholic mother, and an attention whore for a sister. Veronica had been the first person to never ask about meeting his dad, getting an autograph, if he could get her into movie premieres and on sets. Veronica had been a friend to him since Logan had moved to Neptune, and the jealousy had quickly turned into something else. Actually, Logan still got jealous of Veronica sometimes. Even if she wasn't rich like the rest of the 09er's, she still was one of them. Perhaps it was because her family wasn't swimming in money that she had a soul. Logan wouldn't know.

He'd like to think that his current obsession with her smell (or if he was honest with himself, Veronica), was because he was worried. Duncan had started ignoring her the last few days, and Logan knew Lilly wouldn't want to be stuck at home helping Veronica mend a broken heart, so she had to be all alone. It was totally reasonable to be concerned for his friend.

And that was the only reason that he was on Veronica's doorstep, _The Big Lebowski _in one hand, Chinese take-out in the other. After staring at the door for five minutes, Logan thought to hell with it, and rang the doorbell. Then changed his mind, and ran for the Xterra. He didn't know why he was nervous. He was there _as a friend. _So really, he shouldn't be. It wasn't like it was a date. She wasn't even expecting him!

He had just gotten to his car when the front door of the Mars' household opened, revealing Veronica, in pajama pants and a t-shirt, eyes red and hair pulled back into a ponytail.

"Logan?" She asked, looking at him weirdly. He supposed it must be strange finding him dashing for his car after knocking.

Walking slowly back to her door, he smiled hesitantly, then replied, "Hey, I, um, I thought you might need a friend."

She looked down at her feet, then back up and flashed him small, but genuine smile, "Oh, okay, come on in." Opening the door wider for him, he walked in and headed for the living room, Veronica right behind him.

Grabbing the DVD from him, Logan watched as she placed it into the machine, and return to sitting beside him on the couch. They sat in silence, eating rice and egg roles and watching the characters on screen. Finally, after twenty minutes, Logan couldn't take the silence anymore.

Clearing his throat, he glanced over at her, and asked, "So, are you okay?"

Logan watched as she bit her lip, and stared fixedly at the television. "Yes." He nodded his head in reply, and went back to watching the movie.

A minute later, he heard her huff, then, "It's just, I wish I knew why, ya know?" Tears started to fill her eyes, and Logan felt his heart clench. He was starting to regret ever saying anything. Veronica had seemed to be holding up pretty well before he said anything.

"He just started ignoring me, acting like I didn't even exist," she continued, "I just want to know _why, _though." Her voice cracked halfway through, and not used to comforting crying girls, Logan awkwardly put an arm around her, and started muttering soothing words to her. She buried her head in his chest, and he heard a muffled, "Thanks Logan." Looking up so she could see his face, "It means a lot to me, that you're here." She was still crying, and he placed a peck on her forehead. Veronica smiled at him, and laid her head on his shoulder.

Logan liked to think of this as anew beginning for him and Veronica.


End file.
